Monday, May 21, 2012

Grandpa’s Hookah

A far cry from the fancy,
stylish, exotic and ornate hookahs or hukkas
now available in a number of
varieties and designs to choose from, my
grandpa’s hookah was a simple mundane
affair , a non-fussy wooden structure , about 18 inches in height , with a
brass bowl as the base. The brass
bowl had an opening on one side from where to
fill it with water and also to
insert the wooden pipe with a brass end. One the top of the hukka was placed an
earthen katori , which had to be filled
with some dried tobacco and burnt
charcoal taken right from the kitchen chulha. .

Grandpa, in his eighties some 45 years back was agile and alert , would walk straight,
though he needed a stick for support due to poor eyesight. Having served under
the British, he had travelled up to Kabul.
. His hukka was very dear to him, beedis or cigarette being only a poor substitute , if need be.Whenever
we visited our village during vacation or for some ceremony,